<p>Do any of you have anxiety dreams over and over through the years?</p>
<p>I have three: In the first, I’m in college, and I’ve signed up for a difficult math class (it’s ALWAYS a math class), which I quickly realize I need to drop. All of a sudden, it occurs to me that I never did drop it, I never went to class or did homework, and tomorrow is the final exam. I realize I’m going to make the first F of my life and blow my 4.0.</p>
<p>The second: I am overseas and I stupidly set my purse down somewhere and turn away. Someone steals my purse with ALL my money (and apparently I have no money left as a result) and my passport. Panic ensues.</p>
<p>The third: A horrible tornado is in the distance, I can see it and hear sirens, and I begin running through town, searching for a safe haven.</p>
<p>I had the passport dream last night. My husband thinks I’m psycho when I tell him I’ve had yet another one of these. He goes through life with not a care in the world-sometimes it seems he thinks I can will these dreams away.</p>
<p>I used to have a dream that I was driving our minivan and I couldn’t see over the steering wheel, couldn’t reach the brake pedal and, when I could, I had to press down with all my might to make the car stop. I haven’t had this dream in a long time, though.</p>
<p>I also have dreams where I have to relieve myself and can’t find a clean bathroom. Or I have to relieve myself and can’t find any privacy.</p>
<p>And then there are the ones where I’m being pursued by Nazis or murderers and have to outsmart them. When I have these dreams, I sometimes yell in my sleep and wake up DH.</p>
<p>I have had your dream #1 many times. Except I wasn’t worried about messing up a 4.0, I just have never failed at anything significant before.</p>
<p>I have had recurring waitressing nightmares over the years. Me and the cook are the only ones at the restaurant. No busperson, dishwasher, cashier, just us. Two tour busses full of people pull up, everyone pours in and wants breakfast immediately. This has actually happened to me, and the stress is intense. Thirty years of flying, and I never have flying nightmares. But I still wake up in a cold sweat, dreaming about the waitressing job. Thankfully, not very often.</p>
<p>Many people have the college dream, I do also. It comes less frequently now (I’m 54), but every few years. Odd that you say it’s a math class, because it’s the same with me. I’ve not dropped it…just have forgotten to go to it and the test is coming up or I have forgotten the room it’s in. It’s just a stressful dream and I’m always happy to wake up!</p>
<p>I constantly have dreams in which I’m trying to get to a particular destination but various weird things keep happening that derail me. And I’ll occasionally still dream that I must take a test for which I haven’t studied. The settings are different: college, workplace. etc. The only truly terrifying version is when I’m back in high school. </p>
<p>Don’t need to be Freud to interpret either of those.</p>
<p>busdriver’s waitressing dream makes me think of another I used to have when I was a RN in the ICU. I dream that I am giving report to the oncoming nurse. I finish, begin to gather my things, and the other nurse says, “wait, what about Mr. Jones in 109?” I reply, “Oh, I didn’t have that patient.” She retorts, “actually, you did.” I look at the assignment board and see that I DID have Mr. Jones…and I never set foot in his room the entire 12 hour shift…OH MY GOD.</p>
<p>Fortunately I haven’t had that dream in years.</p>
<p>Of course, now that I’ve re-engaged the memory, I’ll probably have it tonight.</p>
<p>There are variations on the school dream. Class I’ve forgotten to go to, assignment I just found out about, locker combination I can’t remember, books I can’t locate for a class. And I graduated college in the 70’s. Still have them occasionally. i don’t know of anybody who hasn’t has a dream like that. Wouldn’t say they are nightmares, but they are definitely troubling.</p>
<p>^^^^My husband NEVER has bad dreams, at least not any he can remember. He is just one of those happy people who never worries about things and always believes things will turn out okay. He feels if a problem arises, he’s certain he’ll be able to figure out how to handle it.</p>
<p>I find his attitude completely unrealistic, but I guess I worry enough for the both of us.</p>
<p>I have recurring dreams about planes or helicopters falling from the sky while I am watching and can do nothing to stop it from happening. It is very disturbing.</p>
<p>My anxiety dreams usually involve a tornado heading for me, and sometimes I am on a school bus. Less frequently, I dream that I am trying to escape up a steep, muddy hill while being pursued by a crocodile. And my third anxiety induced dream involves all my teeth crumbling and falling out. (I think I’ve read that the one about teeth is related to fear of loss…)</p>
<p>I think there was a thread like this a few months ago. I have a lot of these dreams and had the tornado dream for years!!! Last night I dreamt that I was getting married at a museum and realized at the last minute that i had forgotten to book the room. I ended up combining my wedding with another bride in her room. Jeesh!!!</p>
<p>Here is a technique to try! I saw a dream specialist on Oprah years ago and she explained this technique. It worked for me and it worked for my kids when they had recurring nightmares. Lie on your bed or on a couch during the day and close your eyes. Imagine the recurring dream that you have. Watch it in your head like you are watching a movie. But instead of letting it go on and on or have a bad ending, reinvent the ending in a good way. Take control of the dream and the outcome. For instance, if you have a recurring dream that you are being chased by somebody, imagine that you turn to confront them and order them away from you, call the police and have them arrested or whatever…
Do this a few times and it should make that dream stop.</p>
<p>The teeth dream - how many times I’ve dreamed that my tooth/teeth fell out and I woke up and it really fell out #totaldespair! -then I REALLY wake up and my teeth are fine. So harrowing.
I’ve also had the college dream, the dream of running away, the dream of trying to get somewhere but unable to and the dream of flying / falling.
I also used to have a dream that came specifically when I had a fever.</p>
<p>I’ve had the can’t-find-a-clean-bathroom one a lot, I hope I never “find” it in my dream.</p>
<p>For many years, I used to have a recurring dream that planes were flying way to low for the area, and they crashed into buildings. Stopped after 9/11, but I had a version of it recently.</p>
<p>Yes, I’ve had the teeth falling out dream, the didn’t study for the final dream, I’ve even gone to school with no pants. When my children were younger I had nightmares about their stroller sitting precariously on the top of a flight of stairs. I can still even picture the staircase. </p>
<p>Sometimes when I’m dreaming I’ll even be in my dream saying, oh yeah, this is the stress dream.</p>
Mine just show I am a basket case.</p>